The instructions, after only six races of the season, effectively killed off any illusion that he had a chance of fighting for the championship while Schumacher was in the running.Various drivers, including the young Finn Kimi Raikkonen and Britain's Jenson Button, had been linked to possible moves to Ferrari. However, Maranello confirmed Barrichello's contract extension yesterday."The discussions took place in the same positive atmosphere which has typified our relationship and we soon reached an agreement," Schumacher said.Ferrari ended a 21-year hunt for the drivers' crown when Schumacher won the world championship last season. The Italian team also broke a 17-year spell without a constructors' crown.. Andrew Dunemann, the Halifax scrum-half, could face a charge of bringing the game into disrepute over his attack on the referee, Karl Kirkpatrick, in his column in the Halifax Courier. Dunemann, who is recuperating after a broken jaw, alleged that the Blue Sox would have won their recent game at St Helens under any referee other than Kirkpatrick. Andrew Dunemann, the Halifax scrum-half, could face a charge of bringing the game into disrepute over his attack on the referee, Karl Kirkpatrick, in his column in the Halifax Courier. Dunemann, who is recuperating after a broken jaw, alleged that the Blue Sox would have won their recent game at St Helens under any referee other than Kirkpatrick. "When a referee decides the outcome of a game on nearly every occasion, then it is time for someone to speak out and vent their anger.
It seems doing the right thing and going through the right channels gets you nowhere, as they are still refereeing the next week," he wrote.The Rugby League has confirmed that it has asked Dunemann for an explanation. Halifax already have one player under investigation, with Jamie Bloem having been accused of racial abuse in a reserve game.Wigan will be without their in-form Australian Test winger, Brett Dallas, for up to six weeks after finding that he broke his thumb in the victory at Hull on Saturday. His absence leaves Wigan's new coach, Stuart Raper, with a conundrum for Friday's game against his former club, Castleford. With Brian Carney still injured, either Wes Davies or Paul Johnson will have to play on the wing.Salford will find out today whether their bad luck with injuries has worsened. Their ever-present prop forward, Paul Southern, damaged a knee at St Helens on Friday and a specialist's report will reveal the extent of the problem. At best, he could be back in six weeks, but Salford's fear is that he could be out for the season.
Better news is that Bobbie Goulding could be fit, after a thigh muscle injury, for the match at Bradford on Sunday.Mick Murphy, the former Leigh, St Helens, Barrow and Blackpool prop, is to stand as an independent in the St Helens South constituency, in protest against the "parachuting" in of Shaun Woodward as the official Labour candidate. "Over the last couple of weeks, I've just been getting madder and madder about it," said Murphy, who was instrumental in the rescue of the Huddersfield club in the 1990s "I'm going into this in the same way as that. I intend to win the seat," he added, on his way to pay his £500 deposit yesterday.. Bath yesterday confirmed that Ben Clarke has brought his second stint at the Recreation Ground to an end. The 33-year-old former Lion and England back-row forward had been offered a six-month contract, but with no guarantee of an extension after Christmas.
